Wu-Tang Fang
is the first issue of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer Classic comic book series. Written by Andi Watson and illustrated by Joe Bennett, it was originally published on September 23, 1998 by Dark Horse Comics. Synopsis Buffy Summers is not like other girls. She's been chosen to save the world from the vampire plague, and balancing saving the world with high school is no easy task."Buffy the Vampire Slayer #1". Dark Horse Comics. Retrieved January 03, 2018. Summary After getting beaten up by some vampires and watching Blood Fist Warriors of the Harvest Moon, Xander decides to take up martial arts. He joins a local Kung Fu school, but the instructor is disdainful, calls him "candy-boy", and regularly roughs him up. Meanwhile, Lloyd Modano, the Sunnydale High "Karate Champion", is found murdered. Research by the Scoobies points to a legendary vampire Kung Fu master named San Sui, who travels the globe looking to challenge other martial artists in duels to the death. During one of Xander's Kung Fu classes, San Sui attacks his Sensei, who begs to not be killed. Fortunately, Buffy appears on the scene just in time and holds San Sui off long enough for Xander to plunge a stake in the vampire's back. Buffy and Xander agree that, in the future, she'll do the fighting and he'll do the punning. Continuity *Xander reminds Buffy that she had previously gotten into trouble by skipping training to go to a frat party, as seen in "Reptile Boy". *Xander eats a Twinkie snack cake, as he had notably shared with the Inca Mummy in "Inca Mummy Girl". Appearances Individuals *Cordelia Chase *Rupert Giles *Alexander Harris *Machida *Lloyd Modano *Daniel Osbourne *Willow Rosenberg *Snyder *San Sui *Buffy Summers *Unidentified Sensei Organizations and titles *Scooby Gang *Slayer *Watcher Species *Demon *Human *Vampire Locations *Sunnydale, USA **Bronze **Hellmouth **Sunnydale High School ***Sunnydale High School library *China **Xiang River Weapons and objects *Cross *Stake Death count *Lloyd Modano, bitten by San Sui (only mentioned). *San Sui, staked by Xander. Behind the scenes Production *Despite this is the first ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' comic issue, the series debuted a month earlier with the short story "MacGuffins". *The main cover was also available with a golden foil logo, while the photo cover had a second printing. Two other variant photo covers were exceptionally available for this issue, one of them exclusive for Another Universe. *The photo covers feature promotional pictures taken for ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' season 2, in montage by Dave Stewart. *The title refers to Wu-Tang, one of the two major styles of Chinese martial arts, and is also likely a play on the name of the hip-hop group Wu-Tang Clan. *Differently from other representations, at this point the comic issues had vampires also able to transform into green creatures with red eyes, pointy ears, a wide mouth, and long teeth. Although, this seems more like an artistic choice, not having direct consequence to the stories. *The Bronze differs in this appearance as well in the comics at this point; as the "Bronze Club", it has a consistent facade of two large statues. *'' '' was reprinted in 2010 in Dark Horse Comics "one for one" series, with classic first issues for a dollar."1 for $1: Buffy the Vampire Slayer". Dark Horse Comics. Retrieved January 3, 2018. Distribution *'' '' was the 28th best selling comic issue in its publishing month, with 61,383 sales in September 1998 at comic specialty stores."September 1998 Comic Book Sales to Comics Shops". Comichron. Retrieved August 24, 2018. Collections *''The Remaining Sunlight'' *''Omnibus: Volume 3'' *''Classic 13: Wu-Tang Fang'' *''Buffy the Vampire Slayer Legacy Edition, Book 1'' Pop culture references *Xander offers Buffy a Twinkie snack cake. *Xander suggests that Springer Publishing should do a special on teens and paranormal denial. *Xander suggests that vampires should cure their hunger with 7-11 convenience stores. *Buffy wants to watch the romantic comedy movie The Truth About Cats & Dogs (1996). *Oz mentions stand-up comedian Janeane Garofalo. *Xander compares San Sui to former boxer Mickey Rourke. *Giles mentions character Lu Zhishen, from the novel Water Margin. Goofs, bloopers & continuity errors *The name of comedienne Janeane Garofalo is incorrectly spelled as "Jeneane Garafalo". International titles *'Russian:' Гость из Китая (Guest from China) Gallery Additional covers Wu-tang Fang photo cover 2.jpg|Ultravariant cover BC-01-02a.jpg|Golden foil variant 796859.jpg|Another Universe exclusive BC-01-05a.jpg|One for One Classic Wu-Tang Fang.jpg|Classic #13 cover Cover artwork BC-01-00b.jpg|Arthur Adams main cover S2b2.jpg|Original picture for photo cover S2a9.jpg|Original picture for ultra variant S2a1.jpg|Original picture for exclusive cover International covers BC-01-RU.jpg|Cover in Russia Preview Buffy1p1.jpg Buffy1p2.jpg Buffy1p3.jpg References fr:Wu-Tang Fang nl:Wu-tang Fang Category:Buffy comics Category:Dark Horse Classic